|
| Lakeport Brewery employees gather outside the facility in Hamilton to hear announcements from the Union and other labour leaders.
|
What was to be the start of a long weekend of Easter family celebrations for Teamsters Local 938 members at the Lakeport Brewery in Hamilton turned sour on Wednesday, March 31st with the announcement from Labatt Breweries that the Lakeport Brewery would be shutting down permanently effective April 30th 2010. The closing delivers another blow to the labour market in Hamilton which has seen massive layoffs recently in some of its key industries. The Company said that it would be shifting its Lakeport operations to their London, Ontario manufacturing facility. The decision comes as Labatt, owned by Belgian brewer Interbrew tries to boost its operating efficiency as its competitors slash beer prices.
“It came as a complete shock to all of us” said Teamsters Local 938 President Craig McInnes. “We just can’t understand why a brewery manufacturing several highly popular brands sold in the Ontario market would close its operation in April just prior to the busy and profitable summer beer consumption period” he added. “And we are perplexed why the building is not offered up for sale. We have 140 people who are well versed and highly experienced in their craft that would provide a potential buyer with an ideal opportunity to continue operating this facility successfully.”
A press announcement on Thursday, April 1st outside the Hamilton facility saw many of the employees, local politicians and other unions offering support, gather for a show of solidarity. Teamster Local 938 Vice President John Gorman told the audience that ongoing negotiations would commence that afternoon to complete a closure agreement with Lakeport management. “We want to assure all of our members that health and welfare benefits, severance and other issues will be dealt with in an orderly fashion. We will be fighting for the best deal that we can obtain for our members” he stated. “As well, we are obviously going to go through our system to help as many members find jobs as possible.”
